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57% of the Facebook stock being offered in the IPO is coming from insiders selling shares. For some context on how unusual that is, the Wall Street Journal reports that only 37% of Google’s IPO offering came from insiders, and 0% for Amazon and Yahoo came from insiders.

In Facebook’s case, it’s going public at a later stage in its development, so investors are itching to get out. And word is that Facebook asked insiders to sell during the IPO so they don’t crush the stock when the lock-up period ends.

If you’ve recently made a particularly profitable stock investment and want to show it off, Paul Kweton has created a line of jewelry that turns a boring stock performance chart into fashionable wrist adornments.

His Embrace-Stock pieces are made with the assistance of Shapeways’ 3D printing service, and are available in two and three stock versions for $12.55 and $12.18 respectively. (I’m not sure why the more complicated version is the cheaper of the two.) All you need to do is choose the stocks, the time period, and software does the rest, creating a unique design that doesn’t even require you giving a cut to a smarmy investor. [Paul Kweton via Notcot]

Three years ago, Ars Technica discovered that when you “deleted” your photos, they were still kept on Facebook’s servers, and anyone with a static URL could still access it. Three years later, Ars Technica revisited the matter and found little has changed. But Facebook says that things will be different…eventually.

Ars Technica’s Jacqui Cheng got Facebook to comment on the matter, they’re developing a new one which will permanently wipe photo off their servers within 45 days of a user “deleting” the photo from the site.

“The systems we used for photo storage a few years ago did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site,” Facebook spokesperson Frederic Wolens told Ars via e-mail.

Wolens explained that photos remaining online are stuck in a legacy system that was apparently never operating properly, but said the company is working on a new system that will delete the photos in a mere month and a half. For really real this time.

So if there’s some incriminating piece of imagery on Facebook you’re really dying to have removed once and for all, maybe all hope isn’t lost entirely. [Ars Technica]

P&G said it would lay off 1,600 staffers, including marketers, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. More interestingly, CEO Robert McDonald finally seems to have woken up to the fact that he cannot keep increasing P&G’s ad budget forever, regardless of what happens to its sales.

P&G’s staggering ad budget has become a bit of an issue among analysts. On the call, McDonald and his crew were asked about ad costs three different times! . McDonald eventually said:

As we’ve said historically, the 9% to 11% range [for advertising as a percentage of sales] has been what we have spent. Actually, I believe that over time, we will see the increase in the cost of advertising moderate. There are just so many different media available today and we’re quickly moving more and more of our businesses into digital. And in that space, there are lots of different avenues available.

In the digital space, with things like Facebook and Google and others, we find that the return on investment of the advertising, when properly designed, when the big idea is there, can be much more efficient. One example is our Old Spice campaign, where we had 1.8 billion free impressions and there are many other examples I can cite from all over the world. So while there may be pressure on advertising, particularly in the United States, for example, during the year of a presidential election, there are mitigating factors like the plethora of media available.

P&G’s Old Spice campaign is a textbook example of what the entire company should be doing. The problem is that the entire company isn’t doing it. Check out Mr. Clean’s Twitter stream, for instance. Oh, right—he doesn’t have one.

It’s always helpful when tech start-ups scheme new ways for you to burn through that bank account. Like YBUY, the membership-only site that charges a monthly fee in exchange for trying out the latest and greatest in gadgetry, like an iPad 2 or Xbox 360, sans shipping fees. The fresh-out-of-beta portal offers approved users the ability to return or purchase the pre-selected goods after a 30 day trial period, with that recurring charge going towards the full retail price if you choose to opt-in. Its co-founders claim to curate the ever-changing roster of high-end kit, taking into account the best product reviews (ahem) and even featuring certified refurbs. So, what’s the catch? Well, there doesn’t really appear to be any. It’s simply up to you to curb that tech enthusiasm and keep your credit card balance resting peacefully at zero.

According to Airbus and CERA, although cumulative growth in air traffic has totaled roughly 45% since 2000, fuel consumed by the global fleet of aircraft is up less than 5% over the same period, as airlines have accelerated aircraft parking/retirements of older airplane models and ordered newer more efficient replacements at a record pace. Greater efficiency (i.e. load factors) and fleet renewal are at the heart of an airline’s competitiveness in a world where fuel is now an airline’s largest single operating cost; this became the case mid-last-decade for the first time since the late 1970’s US deregulation.

Apple remains conspicuous by its absence (again) at this year’s CES, but preliminary shipment estimates for PCs sold in Q4 2011 show that the company appears to be bucking the generally declining trend. Worldwide shipments dropped 1.4 percent compared to the same period last year, with the US seeing a 5.9 percent decline. The global drop includes an estimated 16.2 percent decrease from HP while Acer battled an 18.4 percent loss in shipments. Staving off any decline, both Lenovo (23 percent) and Asus (20.5 percent) managed an increase. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mac shipments — including both desktop and notebook models — saw a 20.7 percent increase since Q4 2010. Who needs booth babes?

The hipster clothing chain racked up impressive sales gains during the holidays, but profits were squeezed hard as it took steep discounts, including those from a barrage of Groupon offers nationwide, sources told The Post.…American Apparel rang up millions of dollars in the fourth quarter selling cardigans, corduroys and sexy leggings through the daily deals site — a heap of bargains amounting to a “small but material” percentage of the company’s $157 million in total sales during the period, said one source briefed on the company’s finances.

Digital Consigliere

Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.